Alternative Radio

Zionism: The Back Story The back story in journalism and scholarship uncovers vital information on important issues that had been obscured or omitted. It provides background. For example, the origin of Zionism is usually traced to a pamphlet Theodor Herzl wrote in 1896 called The Jewish State. However, the eminent Israeli scholar Ilan Pappe, writes “Many people do not know that Zionism began as an...

Tyranny of the Minority The United States is moving toward a multiracial society. But that demographic development has sparked an authoritarian political backlash. Powerful forces like things just the way they are. Our political system makes the U.S. vulnerable to minority rule. Perhaps the most undemocratic mechanism enabling minority rule is the antiquated Electoral College. No other country has...

Psychospiritual Roots of the Israel-Palestinian Tragedy In Sanskrit, Maya means illusion or magic. Maya is at work among people and nations who project carefully crafted positive images of themselves. The U.S. and Israel are no different from other countries. They claim self-defense as they launch massive attacks. They invoke international law when it suits them then ignore it when it doesn’t. The...

AI’s Promise & Peril The rise of AI, artificial intelligence, is a major development in human history. Its ramifications are profound. What is it exactly? AI provides a computer program with the ability to think and learn on its own. It is a simulation of human intelligence into machines to do things that normally humans do. A government advisory committee states that the emergence of AI as a domi...

Holocausts: An Historical Reckoning Holocaust, derived from the Greek, is a large-scale calamity involving fire. Today, the term is specifically used to describe the German genocide of the Jews. But it has a long history. The European mass murder of Indigenous peoples in North and South America killed 55 million or 90% of the population, between 1492 and 1600, in a little more than one hundred yea...

Gaza in Context Gaza’s 2 million plus Palestinians are jam-packed in a small narrow enclave bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt and Israel. Since 2007 it has been ruled by Hamas. Hamas is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. Israel immediately imposed a blockade. Since then, Gaza has routinely been called the world’s largest open-air prison. Its air, land and sea routes are...

Race, Rights & Rifles Guns, Guns, Guns. In the United States gun violence and shootings in schools, supermarkets, and malls are widespread and have almost become routine. The country is flooded with weapons. Americans may be the most heavily armed people on earth. Fascination with guns has its roots in the American Revolution when notions of patriotism fused with a belief in white male supremacy a...

The United States & Israel Few issues are more freighted than the U.S.-Israel relationship. Overwhelmingly, Democrats and Republicans give Israel “unwavering” support. Internationally, it’s a different story. Opposition to the U.S.-Israel alliance is mounting, particularly on Palestine. Nowhere is this more apparent than at the UN where scores of U.S. Security Council vetoes shield Israel from cri...

The Chinese Economic System China is a paradoxical global power. It’s run by the Communist Party and at the same time it has a huge private sector which includes the world’s largest number of billionaires. Its economy has been described as a mix of state capitalism and market socialism. Internationally its Belt & Road Initiative has spread its economic and political influence. Washington views Chi...

Gaza in Context Gaza’s 2 million plus Palestinians are jam-packed in a small narrow enclave bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt and Israel. Since 2007 it has been ruled by Hamas. Hamas is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement. Israel immediately imposed a blockade. Since then, Gaza has routinely been called the world’s largest open-air prison. Its air, land and sea routes are...

Holocausts: An Historical Reckoning Holocaust, derived from the Greek, is a large-scale calamity involving fire. Today, the term is specifically used to describe the German genocide of the Jews. But it has a long history. The European mass murder of Indigenous peoples in North and South America killed 55 million or 90% of the population, between 1492 and 1600, in a little more than one hundred yea...

Against War In a May 1976 column in the Boston Globe Howard Zinn wrote “Memorial Day should be a day for putting flowers on graves and planting trees. Also, for destroying the weapons of death that endanger us more than they protect us, that waste our resources and threaten our children and grandchildren.” Sadly his column in the Globe was discontinued soon after. And even more sadly his words are...

The Decline of the Global North The Global North or the West is a group of countries led by the United States. In juxtaposition is the Global South, once called the Third World. In recent years, the Global North has undergone a significant economic and political decline. The geopolitical landscape is shifting thus opening new possibilities for Global South countries, particularly for China. A dram...

Psychospiritual Roots of the Israel-Palestinian Tragedy In Sanskrit, Maya means illusion or magic. Maya is at work among people and nations who project carefully crafted positive images of themselves. The U.S. and Israel are no different from other countries. They claim self-defense as they launch massive attacks. They invoke international law when it suits them then ignore it when it doesn’t. The...

A Palestinian American Speaks It’s axiomatic that anything dealing with Palestine is deemed controversial. And if it is Palestinian American women speaking out even more so. Look at the vitriol and death threats directed at Michigan congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. She is Palestinian American and is speaking out as is Maryam Alwan, a Palestinian American student at Columbia. She is a Students for Just...

Ending Poverty in America Why does the United States, the richest country on earth, have more poverty than any other advanced democracy? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? What perpetuates poverty and what can be done to end it...

What the Genocide Says About Us The Iran-Israel attacks and the prospects of a wider Middle East war have dominated the news. Meanwhile, the bloodbath in Gaza continues. Genocide is the crime of crimes. We are witnessing it in real time in Gaza. The UN says, “The entire population of Gaza is enduring destruction at a scale and speed without parallel in recent history. Nothing can justify the colle...

The Wrong People at the Top Power. What is it? Political theorist Robert Dahl gave one example. He said, “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that he would not otherwise do.” Why is it that often that those who are on top are the wrong people? The high rollers and the nabobs lust for power behind a smokescreen of homilies about doing good. Today, more and more power...

The Decline and Fall of the American Empire Empires come and go. They’re sometimes long, sometimes short. But ultimately they fall. Hubris, incredible arrogance, is often the element that brings the mighty down. The U.S. is not immune from decline. With its ruinous wars, bloated Pentagon budget, military bases all over the earth, grotesque levels of inequality and an economy that spews red ink we...

Modi, Hindutva & Kashmir “India’s democracy is being systematically disassembled,” says renowned writer and activist Arundhati Roy. She adds, “Any kind of dissent is just smashed with an iron fist.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party openly espouse Hindutva, a racist ideology rooted in a mythical past and fueled by magical thinking. It’s a supremacist doctrine that...

The Future of Nuclear Weapons The award-winning Oppenheimer film has brought attention to the origins of the atomic bomb and the anguish of its inventor. Almost 80 years after that first explosion in New Mexico, the threat of global Armageddon not only remains but has increased. Until and unless nuclear weapons are abolished, humankind will always be in danger of massive death and destruction. Yet...

From Birmingham to Bethlehem (part 2) How can the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity take lessons from the Black Liberation Movement? Historical circumstances are clearly different yet there are similarities. Both are located in a colonial-like situation, where a powerful oppressor oppresses another less powerful group. Racism is a major factor. The Black Liberation Movement and Malcolm...

From Birmingham to Bethlehem (part 1) From Birmingham to Bethlehem. Two iconic places saturated with meaning. As segregation and Jim Crow were described as intractable so too is Palestine today. How can the Palestinian struggle for freedom and dignity take lessons from the Black Liberation Movement? Historical circumstances are clearly different yet there are similarities. Both are located in a co...

India: On the Road to Theocracy Hindutva is theocratic Hindu nationalism. It is a powerful force in what is now the world’s most populous country. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, is a lifelong member of the RSS, an openly Hindu supremacist organization. Le Monde Diplomatique reports: Hindutva “followers regard India as a Hindu country. Non-Hindus are at best guests, at worst invaders, and m...

Corporate Autocracy, Fascism, Trump & the Election Corporate power is more concentrated than ever before. The rich are significantly richer. And the poor? Well, they know their place. There’s an odor of fascism in the air. FDR once warned, “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself...